Our church building may be closed, but God’s eyes are open and his ears are attentive to our prayers (2 Chronicles 7.15).

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

‘Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.’

from Matthew 6.21 (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount)

Today’s Proverb

Read the proverb through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.

Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honour. (NIV)

No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin. (GNB)

Proverbs 18.12

It’s pretty easy to spot arrogance in other people, isn’t it? Most of us don’t like arrogant people who strut about, pontificating as if they are right all the time, looking down on us, mocking us when we get something wrong.

I’ve been listening to a modern retelling of Greek myths recently, and ‘hubris’ is a big theme: Icarus flies too close to the sun, which melts the wax on his wings and he plummets to his death; Belerophon tries to fly Pegasus up to Mount Olympus to be with the gods, but Zeus throws him off the flying horse and he plummets – not to death, but to crippling injury; Marsyas claims to be better at playing the lyre than Apollo, and ends up being flayed alive. These unpleasant stories serve as a warning against hubris (pride).

This proverb conveys the same warning but a lot less gore than the Greek myths. And it’s a lot more relatable – when was the last time you tried to fly a horse up a mountain?!

We might not quite reach the heights of arrogance seen in those myths, but every single one of us could be more humble and less proud. Perhaps this morning you could ask God to show you the ways in which you are proud, so you can be specific about how and where you need help?

Prayers

Pray for Five – pray for your five friends / family from Thy Kingdom Come.

Our daily prayer sheet includes the names of everyone for whom we have a signed church family directory form – and local parishes and senior church leaders. Today we are praying for:

Muriel Smith, Albert Pegg, Simon Garratt

Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.

We also pray for: Leaders of Church Groups

Please pray for our leaders and healthcare workers, and all those working to keep us safe, well, and fed. Please pray that people would unselfishly put others before themselves.

Church Family Prayer

Come Holy Spirit,
and make us one in heart and action,
so that we can serve God faithfully:
abounding in love,
maturing in holiness,
and seeking out the lost.
Help us grow as disciples of Jesus –
in commitment, in depth, and in number –
that we may be a blessing to Amington;
to the glory and praise of God the Father.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Closing Prayer

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus
the only way to the Father.

Psalm 127.1, Hebrews 12.2 & John 14.6

May Christ our Saviour give us peace.
Amen.